Health Law Tax Foes Find Hope in Overhaul Effort

Camp is among the members of Congress working on a comprehensive tax overhaul.

“Repealing the ObamaCare revenue provisions would simply add another $1 trillion to the tab — one that Republicans could only pay for by raising taxes on lower- and middle-income families,” a House Democratic aide said in an email. “It is a totally irresponsible proposal.”

The politics surrounding the health care law are also undoubtedly in play, although Republican lawmakers maintain that they do not see that preventing some provisions from being addressed in a tax overhaul package. Boustany said he thinks there is “less of an entrenched position by a lot of Democrats now about these Obamacare taxes.” And Paulsen said he has spoken to many Democrats who acknowledge that the law isn’t perfect.

“There’s a big opportunity to get bipartisan support on cleaning up some of those provisions along with tax reform,” he said.

Provisions with a strong lobby behind them also could help lawmakers bring more groups on board with a tax package, which faces considerable challenges. But for opponents of provisions such as the medical-device tax, the focus will remain on searching for any way — inside or outside of a tax overhaul — to get the language off the books.

“Right now it’s all about keeping up the momentum and really getting it over the finish line,” Paulsen said.